'The news makes me want to stay in and hide - it's important we don't'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Halloween might be over - but it doesn't feel like it. I know this is supposed to be the M.E.N's easy slide into the weekend, but just to address the elephant in the room, the news is completely overwhelming.

The Israel-Hamas War, the shocking revelations coming out of the Covid-19 inquiry, even the stormy weather feels like a pathetic fallacy for the unrelenting terror that is always present at our fingertips, only a scroll away.

Working every day as the Manchester Evening News' health reporter, even while it's a job I hold so dearly, it puts me constantly in front of a website that is required - and absolutely needs - to be reflective of and report on the state of the things right now.

And, like anyone else who has news notifications arriving on their screens, I have felt horrified and powerless in equal measure many times. READ MORE: 'The Covid Inquiry has revealed the government delayed lockdown by 10 days - my mum might not have been one of the first to die' READ MORE: Manchester Christmas Markets 2023 locations, opening times, mugs and everything you need to know I unfortunately have no answers for you still, as an eternal optimist, one constant I know for sure (and a crucial reason I find meaning in my job) is that we need to know about these stories.